ENFIELD 7.62x51

[Claude Clay]

i have an Enfield RFI marked 7.62. the tag said 308. 7.62 x 51 South African freeze the bolt. 308's loaded light--40 gr Varget sierra 168 BTHP result in almost ok bolt operation. these are sized proper and drop in and out of the chamber freely. the front 2/3 of fired cases that stick the most seem to be the dirtiest. also the bolt randomly wont stay locked when put into battery [more so with 7.62 rounds than 308 cased rounds].
Model 4 also stamped ' INDIA' and '1964'
i been thinking of light loads in a 30-30 case to get a size of the chamber/shoulder.
thought or ideas welcome.

 

[Sunray]

"...have an Enfield RFI..." Which model? A No. 1 or No. 4?
Start by checking the headspace. Sticking bolts and hard extractions are an indication of excessive headspace. Have a look in the chamber for pitting too. Most likely a headspace issue though.
"...thinking of light loads in a 30-30 case..." Forget that altogether. Aside from being too long, the .30-30 is a rimmed case. Totally different.
"...bolt randomly wont stay locked..." Bolt head turned all the way on?

 

[rcmodel]

You need to make a Cerrosafe chamber cast and figure out what you have:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/productdetail.aspx?p=384

Do Not fire some other caliber in it in an attempt to blow it out to fit the chamber.

If it blows out at all, it may really blow out!

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Do not shoot .30-30. Can you post a pic of the gun (with mag in)?

This is an Ishapore 2A or 2A1 in 7.62x51. It is based on the No. 1, so I don't know why it says Model 4. It is chambered in 7.62x51, unless it's possibly been re-chambered to something else (not likely). Does a .308 feed from the magazine properly? The South African may be a tad hot for it, but no it shouldn't be, being milspec 7.62 NATO ammo - hmmm. Maybe wrong headspace. I'd say, have a gunsmith check the headspace - it may be too long or too short. Don't forget that your gunsmith must use 7.62x51mm guages, NOT .308 Win guages when checking headspace - there is a slight difference.

 

[Claude Clay]

it is stamped 2A
bolt head is screwed on proper
308/7.62x51 and 30-30 all feed fine from the magazine and extract via the bolt properly
mag does not come out-there is absolutely zero movement in any direction.
i have had the SA battle packs for 10+ years and have always thought that they are 'hot'. perhaps MG rounds
the 30-30 case rim actually allows for correct feeding and extraction. my cases are ancient( from the late 60's) and have been reloaded more than 10 times each. RC-- my thought was to measure & observe to expand the cases as you said. figured it would take 6+ charges or untill i noticed a problem. i wanted to measure for the shoulder. i'll not employ this method.

thank you all for the input.

i may be wrong about model 1 or 4.....the bayonet mount post projects further than the muzzle which is flush to the end of the rifle
my daughter has the camera : will try to post pic's later.

 

[mainmech48]

I may be mistaken, but I don't think that any No.4 SMLEs were made at Ishapore. IIRC, their entire production of SMLE-type rifles were based on the No.1 with various small differences from the Brit's 'Sealed Pattern' specs to fascilitate production, etc. These are known as the "India Pattern" rifles.

Although it should be marked on the butt stock socket, the easiest way to identify a 2A1 from a 2A is the graduations on the rear sight. A 2A1 will be graduated to 800 M.

I'd agree that it's most likely to be a headspace issue and would also ditto 'Sauces' caution about having the check done with the proper 7.62x51 NATO gauges.

Strongly ditto rcmodel and Sunray's cautions against trying any other cartridges in it, no matter how well they might feed and extract.